We are back to Nauvoo

NAUVOO CITY - 2017

As Heber C. Kimball was leaving Nauvoo, in 1846, he said the Mormons would some day return. Today, Mary and I are finally back, but for over 30 years now, senior LDS missionaries have been working and living in old Nauvoo. They have been providing tours through the 21 restored shops and homes of the original saints. Six times a week, the missionaries preform a roadshow called, "Rendezvous", in the original cultural hall that Joseph and Emma danced in. This play is about several families in Nauvoo and two of them are the Nathanal Ashby and Erastus Snow families. They liked each other so well, they constructed a red brick duplex, shown in the picture below, right next to the white frame home. The play is all about how the 20 kids, 10 kids in each of the Ashby and Snow family were so noisy and rowdy to their neighbors. It was only fitting that as Mary and I were assigned our home, we discovered that the white home was owned by George Benjamin Wallace and today we live right across the street from them. It is a small world since our home in Layton, Utah is also very close to the Ashby home, once again.

It is only fitting that my picture should be on the front porch of Heber C. Kimball's home. Mary and I get the opportunity to be of service in the Nauvoo Temple five days a week, two of those days, we work from early morning until late at night, but the other three days, we only work half a day.

Mary is also from an original Nauvoo family, John Streater Gleason, who lived right in back of the Temple. We are being trained this week to operate the Baptismal area. The temple was re-constructed in 2002.

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Mississippi River

Flowing on three sides of Nauvoo, is the Big Muddy, commonly known as, the Mississippi River, is extremely important to residents of the mid west. We saw this mile wide river completely freeze in two days this winter. In Feb. of 1845, the pioneers crossed on ice. Barge on the Mississippi River Farmers around here produce mostly corn and soy bean. About a third is for humans, a third is for gas, and the last third is for animals. Trucks and trains haul produce to the river banks where it is loaded on to barges. Silos used to load the barges These barges consist of 15 individual barges, connected together and pushed by one tug boat. Each set of barges can transport as much produce as 788 semi truck loads. They take the coal and farm products to New Orleans where it is shipped as far away as China. Tug Boat pushing the barge As the barges move up and down the river, they cross many bridges, us...

Grapes of Wrath

The Wallace family has been harvesting grapes a long time, so it is only fitting that as I jogged along Parley Street, the 20 MPH, 2 mile long road, what should I find? Vineyards of Concord Grapes are everywhere. This vineyard is owned by the Great State of Illinois and is just a few blocks from our home. This is one of seven vineyards, owned by Kelly Baxter. The Baxter winery, located on Parley St. has been growing and harvesting grapes for five generations. They are the owners of the oldest winery in this State. This is Kelly Baxter himself. He has agreed to allow me to be a volunteer during our free time. Currently they are pruning the vines that are older. The younger vines will be pruned in March. One new acre will be planted with vines this coming spring. The planting, pruning, harvesting, presses, and then the final sweet juice is the product of a lot of work. Just like our lives. ...

Why, we take it slow and easy in Nauvoo

Two of the main streets in Nauvoo, are Main Street, running North and South through old Nauvoo and Parley Street, running East and West from the Mississippi River to the old Cemetery. Each street is all of two miles long and consist of 20 feet of asphalt and generally no sidewalks. This picture is Main St. looking to the North, which is just a 100 feet from our home, please notice the speed limit sign. This is again Main St. looking to the South, right next to the Cultural Hall, again notice the speed limit sign. This is Parley St. looking East from our home, the speed limit sign is in back of us, guess what the max. speed is? This is the East end of Parley, going out of town to the cemetery, at 20 MPH of course. Least you think we do not have a drag strip in town, this is the downtown area, the Temple is just to the left of the water tank and you can go all of 25 MPH. ...

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